


An Afternoon in Barcelona

by dierdele



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: M/M, barcelona training camp, cuddles cuddles cuddles!, it's just a cute fluffy scene with cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-17 17:07:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18102788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dierdele/pseuds/dierdele
Summary: One scorching afternoon in Barcelona, Eric decides that all he really wants is to fall asleep cuddling his best friend.





	An Afternoon in Barcelona

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DanceFairies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanceFairies/gifts).



> This was a oneshot written for @dancefairies. I saw a picture of Eric at the training camp and it looked like Jan and Toby were cuddling in the background. Eric definitely looked like he wanted a cuddle too. And that's how this fic was born.

It’s around 4pm when the heat wave hits.

They’re all out on the pitch at the Barcelona training camp, half the team playing rondo and the other half suffering through resistance training beneath the blazing Spanish sunshine. It’s been a long day of shooting practice and fitness tests and 1v1s. Everyone is already tired as it is, but when the heat wave strikes mid-afternoon, a new level of lethargy settles over the pitch and wipes everyone out completely.

Pochettino sympathetically waves off the training session and tells everyone to stretch for a while or take shelter in the indoor pool. It’s far too hot to continue and they were almost at the end of their session anyway, so one by one, the team begin to disperse.

Eric finds himself a quiet spot in one of the few shaded areas of the pitch, just off to the side. He lays out a mat and goes to fetch a foam roller, passing Jan and Toby on the way.

“Good idea,” Toby says, nodding at the foam roller in Eric’s hands. He grabs one from the basket and tosses it to Jan before collecting one for himself.

The three of them walk back to the shaded spot, discussing the antics of today’s session, and while Toby and Jan begin laughing at something that happened earlier with Lucas, Eric glances up and sees Dele across the pitch.

He’s lying down on the grass alone, his legs bent at the knees and feet flat on the ground. He’s tucked one arm beneath his head and the other rests across his eyes, blocking the sunlight. Eric smiles to himself and wonders if Dele has fallen asleep.

“I only brought one mat,” Toby points out to Jan once they reach the shaded area. He lies the mat down behind Eric’s and Eric watches Toby settle down onto it before collapsing on his own.

“I guess we will have to share then,” Jan says happily. Eric has his back to them, so he doesn’t know if they are actually sharing a mat or if Jan is just joking, but he doesn’t give it much thought because his attention is once again drawn back to Dele, who is now holding his hand out towards the sky and seems to be studying the movement of his fingers in the sunlight.

“Don’t take all the room!” Toby mutters, and then suddenly there’s an oof and Jan is giggling about something. “Can you- move- please. Stop it! Will you get off, can you get off my half- Jan!” Toby continues, his sentence broken by sudden splutters of laughter.

Eric props the foam roller beneath his thigh and finally turns around to see what all the commotion is about. Jan and Toby are indeed sharing a mat, even though it’s definitely not big enough for the two of them, and Jan keeps nudging Toby off of his foam roller, causing him to fall back to the ground with a thump.

When Jan sees Eric looking back at them, he grins broadly. Eric shakes his head but laughs fondly at them. Toby and Jan have always brought out the silliness in each other and it’s actually kind of endearing to watch.

Eric turns his attention back to his legs and begins stretching out the muscles. Using the foam roller is as painful as ever and he grimaces when it crushes a particularly tender part of his hamstring. But he reminds himself that this is an essential part of recovery, even if it’s also the worst part.

To distract himself from the pain, Eric looks back towards the middle of the pitch, where Dele is still lying there completely alone. He’s dropped his hand to his chest now. He’s still, quiet, and completely unaware that Eric is watching him from the side of the pitch.

Most of the team have filtered off now, opting to either cool down in the pool or continue their training indoors. Only Jan, Eric, Toby, Dele, and the goalkeepers have remained outside. Hugo and Gaz are taking turns practising penalty shootouts and it seems as though Dele may have been watching them before he kicked back and decided to sleep under the sun instead.

“Stop it, Jan, I’m ticklish!”

“You’re doing it wrong! Here, let me show you.”

Eric wonders what Dele is thinking about right now and whether he’s actually asleep or not. He wonders if he should go and wake him up and tell him to go indoors, because if he stays in one position under the sun like that, he’s going to end up sunburned, or even worse, with heat stroke.

“I was doing it right! You are doing it wrong.”

“I never do anything wrong. Lift your leg, no, like this-”

Did Dele even put sun cream on today? Eric can’t remember him putting sun cream on. He remembers Harry Kane doing it and Ben Davies doing it, but he’s sure Dele passed it up, insisting he’d do it later. But Dele never took the bottle out and Eric spent the whole morning with him and didn’t once see him put sun cream on. So he probably didn’t bother, which means he’s definitely going to burn. Eric should really get up and do something about that.

“You’re tickling me!”

Eric is pulled away from his thoughts and back into reality by a sudden squeal behind him. The type that only Toby Alderweireld can produce.

He turns to look back over his shoulder and finds Toby flat on his back, laughing up at Jan who is leaning over him, throwing the foam roller out onto the pitch and away from them both.

“If you’re not going to use it properly, you’re not using it at all,” Jan insists, but his tone is lighthearted and there’s an amused grin stretched across his face.

Jan settles down next to Toby and shuffles closer to him. He props himself up on his elbow and rests his head in his hand, smiling down at his teammate.

“What are you smiling at?” Toby asks playfully. There’s also a nervousness to his voice that Eric can’t help but pick up on.

Jan shakes his head and continues pressing his mouth into a gentle smile. “Just you,” he says softly, and with his free hand he dances his fingers along Toby’s chest, letting his hand come to settle just over Toby’s heart.

Eric watches them silently, almost longingly. They’ve always had these sweet little moments of closeness, and Eric has always wondered just how close they get in the moments when nobody else is around. But some questions are better left unasked and some moments are better kept private, so Eric respectfully turns away and tries to focus instead on stretching out his calves.

After a few more minutes have passed, Jan and Toby fall silent. Eric finishes up with the foam roller and peaks over his shoulder.

Toby has cuddled up against Jan and is leaning the side of his head against Jan’s chest. Jan is still propped up next to him, laying on his side, and he’s softly combing Toby’s hair out of his face. Toby’s eyes have slipped shut and there’s a steady rise and fall to his breathing. He’s asleep, knocked out by the heat and the exhaustion, and Jan is quietly watching over him.

Eric smiles at the scene. Suddenly Jan notices he’s being watched and turns to Eric, blushing a little. Eric gives him a short, accepting nod and Jan returns it.

Eric sits up on his mat and looks over at Dele. He’s just got up and started walking back towards the training centre, brushing grass off his legs as he walks. Eric waits until he’s just a little way in front of him and then calls out his name, raising his hand to wave at him.

Dele snaps his gaze to Eric and beams at him. He looks surprised to see him, as if he thought he was alone on the pitch. He turns on the spot and heads over to Eric.

“Hi,” Dele greets. He waves at Jan and Toby too, but Toby is still asleep so Jan silently waves back on his behalf.

“Come sit,” Eric offers, scooting up a little on his mat to make room for Dele.

“That’s cute,” Dele says quietly. He subtly nods his head back towards Jan and Toby. Eric grins and looks back at them once more time.

“They’re just having a cuddle, I think.”

“Yeah,” Dele hums in agreement and then lifts his gaze to meet Eric’s, holding the eye contact for a moment. He bites his bottom lip and shrugs. “Cuddles are nice,” he adds.

“Yeah, they are,” Eric says. He swallows around the lump in his throat and looks around the pitch again. Somewhere in the distance, Hugo and Gaz are still practising penalties, but it feels like they’re a world away right now.

Dele nudges Eric’s shoulder with his own and smiles sheepishly.

“You okay?” Eric asks. His heart rate is picking up and he knows what Dele is doing, what he’s asking for, but Eric just wants to be sure.

“Cuddle me, Diet,” Dele says, his voice barely a whisper. Eric smiles at him and raises his eyebrows, pretending to be shocked for a moment, but then he wraps an arm around Dele’s shoulders and pulls him in for a hug.

They both lie down on the mat together and Dele makes sure to stay in Eric’s arms so that his head is resting on Eric’s shoulder. Eric shuffles down further so that he’s lying on his back, and he uses the change in position to coax Dele closer to him.

After a few minutes, Eric’s hand finds Dele’s lower back and he slowly peels away the fabric of Dele’s training shirt, lifting it until his fingers brush against warm skin and Dele sinks into him a little more.

They lie like this for a while, simply enjoying the quiet summer afternoon in Barcelona. Neither of them say anything but every now and then, Dele sighs happily against Eric’s shoulder and Eric affectionately strokes the skin on Dele’s lower back.

Eric is pretty sure that Jan has now probably fallen asleep and he can feel himself heading in the same direction. He’s breathing in the scent of Dele’s familiar shampoo, the one that smells of cocoa butter and coconut, and Dele is lazily tracing shapes on Eric’s chest with his fingers. It’s soothing, and Eric is almost certain that Dele just drew a heart.

“Did you put sun cream on today, Del?” Eric asks sleepily. He hitches the training shirt up a little further and lays his palm flat on Dele’s back.

“Hmm?” Dele replies. He’s half asleep but he nuzzles against Eric’s neck for a second.

“Sun cream,” Eric repeats quietly. He’s drifting away, barely clinging on to consciousness now. His mind is swimming with the image of Dele lying flat on the grass, glowing in the sunshine. He looks so beautiful and so peaceful. Eric wants to reach out to him, to call his name, to kiss him.  

“Eric,” Dele mumbles. He hand stills on Eric’s chest and his breathing becomes heavier against Eric’s neck.

In his dream, Eric lies down next to Dele in the middle of the pitch. They’re completely alone except for the sun high above them, and Dele is squinting against the streaming sunlight. Eric leans over Dele, blocking out the light for him, and Dele smiles gratefully. It happens slowly, but all at once. Eric finds himself leaning down and closing the gap between their mouths.

“Del…”

The last thing Eric registers before he falls asleep is smell of cocoa butter and the warmth of Dele’s body next to his.


End file.
